Friday, June 21, 2013

I think my title explains my day well. 3 more hours to go and its mini-vacation time! I'M SO EXCITED! There will be many firsts by just going:-First family vacation-First vacation (for me) with Josh's side of the family-First time Willow will see the beach-First time going on vacation at a beach house instead of a hotel/camping-I think its the first time Willow has ever been out of state! And I'm sure there will be a lot more firsts (and awesome seconds). Josh's brother and SIL, AKA Troy and Kristie are great to be around (Kristie cracks me up!) and their kids are so well behaved. It will be a blast for sure!Onto running stuff...I will either go for a long run tonight or in the morning before we leave. I think if I do one in the morning I'll be in a better mood on the drive down there. I think I'll do this tonight, in the midst of packing:I found this on theberry.com ....who wants to do it with me? I definitely think this is worth throwing in a routine!

Thursday, June 20, 2013

The bad- I ate too much ice cream last night and didn't feel like running afterwardThe good- I made myself get up and go for a 2.40 mile run this morning You win some, you loose some. The only thing about running first thing in the morning is that I'm starving the rest of the day. I have already eaten yogurt, a banana, some watermelon, a bag of The Habit Mix (trailmix from Wawa) and 3 cups of coffee. Its not even 10 yet! Maybe, if I'm lucky, I can get another two miles in tonight once Willow is asleep. I don't know though. I have to do some more never-ending-cleaning before we leave Saturday. Willow gets to spend the day with her Aunt Kat and cousins Lucas and Gabriel (twin boys, they are pretty cute!) She will probably be pretty pooped out when I get home this evening. Bandit (our dog) is hanging out with his Aunt Kristie and Uncle Troy today, he's getting pampered before vacation...and de-skunked. It was a long, stinky ride into work this morning...Well, I'm full of food now so I guess I'll go walk around the office... :)

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Wanna come drag me out of bed to go with you?I had my alarm set for 4:50 am so I could get up, get coffee, and get on the treadmill. That didn't happen. The alarm came and went. I didn't get up until my second alarm which is at 5:30.Guess I have an after dinner date with my treadmill tonight once Willow goes to bed. Speaking of Willow...

Red Hair Don't Care :)

Not counting today, there are 2 days left until VACATION!! I cannot wait! If I didn't mention it before we are going with Josh's Brother and his family. They are a lot of fun and I'm so excited they invited us to go with them. We are only staying until Tuesday but it'll be our first family vacation and it'll be awesome to share that with them :)Also, I'm totally looking forward to taking the dog for a run while we are down there. Probably not on the beach itself because I would hurt myself running on the sand (clumsy much?). But I think it'd be fun to run through the neighborhood we are staying at. I love checking out the different houses while running. Last night I did 2 sets of 30 squats, 2 sets of 25 (girly) push ups, 2 sets of 30 second planks, 2 sets of 30 second side planks (per side), side crunches, regular crunches, bicycle crunches and those flutter kick crunch things. Also I did 1 set of 60 second knee high jogging in place which is a pain and Willow looked at me weird. Also, have you found me on Twitter ? Instagram ?

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Yesterday it was hot and humid. I did a short 2.52 miles before keeling over next to my car. At least I keeled over looking semi-cute in my orange running skirt ;)

I've been on a "running only" kick when it comes to exercising. I just don't feel like following a work out video. I am going to have to find a poster or something to follow instead...that way I don't realize how unbelievably slow and out of shape I am. Maybe something like this:

Monday, June 17, 2013

The view of my run on Friday, running down our road. If only our grass was cut like that. Hope everyone had a great Father's Day yesterday! It was a busy weekend for me. Saturday I took my Dad and Willow out to Waffle House for breakfast:

the nice waitress gave her a hat...she was not impressed lol

Then Willow and I ran some errands. We went by Green Top Sporting Goods and got Josh a gift card to go with his new Salt Life shirt. He would have been proud, Willow really wanted to take home a Disney princess fishing rod. We went to our neighbor's birthday party Saturday afternoon where they played and I ate three pieces of birthday cake (After telling Josh this yesterday and explaining that I just can't control myself around cake, what do you think he did? He bought 4 boxes of cake mix and icing while at the grocery store. Psh.) The kids were all so cute, its awesome to have neighbors that Willow (and I) can play with. We also stopped by my brother's house and he got some hugs from his niece: Yesterday we got to see Josh's Dad and Step-Mom. Josh cooked up some Striper for them and it was awesome. I wish we got to hang out with them more often, I like family time. Willow got to play in the pool and she got TONS of new clothes and some adorable crocs.We stopped by my brother's house again last night, he and his Fiance cooked an awesome Father's Day dinner, where I again ate too much dessert :) I ran 3.47 miles yesterday. I did a dumb move and ran around 11 am, and it was 81 degrees out. I'm not gonna lie, I speed walked the last half mile.

Friday, June 14, 2013

Yesterday there was a crazy storm but luckily where I live it didn't do much damage and it didn't last long. It was over before I left work, it was still raining though.

It brought in a cold front so now its about 75 degrees outside and that is my definition of PERFECT running temperature. I doubt I'll get to run outside after work since Josh won't be home again, I'll probably run on the treadmill once Willow goes to bed. If it works out like that, maybe I'll rent a movie and make it a long run....

Last night I didn't do any kind of particular work out. I'm still trying to be mindful of my back. I did do about 40 squats, 2 reps of 12 girly-push ups, about 80 crunches, some of those scissor crunch things, side planks, and regular planks. Also, I danced around the house trying to make Willow laugh. That counts, right?

Saw this on my way to meet mom at Chipotle...it was really needed to see, for me.

What is everyone doing for father's day? I ordered Josh something, it should be in today, and then I'll stop and get him a gift card tomorrow.

Tomorrow I'm taking dad and Willow to breakfast, then our neighbor's son is having his 2nd birthday and I'm sure the kids will have a blast!

Thursday, June 13, 2013

I hadn't actually ran any so I didn't post. My back was still killing me. I went to the doctor Tuesday and they gave me muscle relaxers and anti-inflammatory pills for it. It has helped a lot.

Last night, a little after 9 pm, I finally felt comfortable enough to go for a short run. Well, short in distance, a little lengthy in time.
﻿

It was more like 3.1 miles and a minute longer but who's counting?

After I ran, I stretched, took a shower, a muscle relaxer and went to bed. I actually woke up rested this morning which is a nice change! I think running does help with my back muscles, getting them looser after sitting at a desk all day. I really need to do some strength training but I'm going to take it easy for the next couple days, just light stuff.

Its Her'sday today! Which of course means I am having a glass of wine after work. Maybe.

It's also a certain little neighbor's 2nd birthday today. I heard he likes donuts, so Willow and I just might be bringing him a treat later :)

Monday, June 10, 2013

I forgot to put on real shoes this morning, I'm still sporting my rubber flip flops at work. My nail polish is also chipped like crazy and my side hurts. Happy Monday, right?I guess its at least a positive that my chest isn't hurting anymore. This morning while I was making Willow's lunch I kept having to stop to sit down because my chest hurt so bad I though I was going to pass out. I know, I need to go to the doctor. I'll go Saturday when my craptastic insurance kicks in.﻿﻿I hadn't ran since Wednesday of last week so I gave it a go yesterday during Willow's nap. I managed a little over 2.50 miles at a slow run pace, then did some walking afterward. My back felt amazing after that, I don't know what that's about. It hurts to pick Willow up, it hurts to sit, it hurts to lay down and it hurts to do any kind of floor exercises. But running? nope, no real pain to speak of. Its been one thunderstorm/down pour after another around here for the past few days. This happened right after one (also, it was right after I gave her a bath):

Bumpass Pool

Saturday morning we went to a local bridal store with Jessi H, and she picked out a beautiful dress for her big day. I really think that dress was made for her. After that Willow and I met up with mom and went thrift store shopping. I got about 5 new outfits for 20 bucks. Macklemore would be proud.

Friday, June 7, 2013

I stayed home today and attempted to rest my back. Since Willow could still go to the sitter, I dropped her off at usual time. I went home, laid in bed until a little after 10 and couldn't anymore.

I'm finding it very hard to "not do anything" since I've become a mother. Even with her not home I realize all the things I could be doing, like cleaning, laundry, the things in the house that need to be done.

Also, there was a spider the size of my palm in my bathroom which really put a damper in my morning. It was in Willow's tennis shoe, thank goodness I didn't put it on her!

I'm going to take a few rest days and get back to it on Sunday. I really wanted to go for run today or some sit ups but I resisted. (One of my theories is I strained my back doing ab work....or it's stress)

Thursday, June 6, 2013

Yesterday's run was good, we are still getting used to the muggy weather though. We went just over a 5k distance through the park.

I hope everyone enjoyed National Running Day and used it as an excuse to get a run in!

After that I went home and tended to a cranky toddler. Then we went over to the neighbors and ate dinner and drank some all the wine between us (mommy juice :)

Did I mention how cute Willow is? Here she is playing on Josh's boat:

Also, I am thinking of going by Marshall's or TJMaxx for some new running skirts/tops. I only have one running skirt and I'm pretty sure I need more. I wish they made them in Willow's size and we could match haha. Josh thinks I'm being weird when I want her and I to match. I think it just makes us the coolest mother/daughter team everrrr.

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Why does my back hurt when I sit down? Is this my body forcing me not to be lazy? Cuz its only going to make me want to drink wine instead.

Just kidding....Kinda.
Going running with miss Mandy after work then going home to tackle some laundry. More like I'm avoiding getting tackled by the laundry.
My back hurts like crazy. I can't tell if its a muscle or a kidney infection or if its just sprained. If I had health insurance I'd probably go to the doctor. But I don't. I did buy some super cheap-o, just-in-case-I-get-hit-by-a-train insurance, but it doesn't become effective until the 15th. And again, its probably uber-crappy.

So today is National Running Day. Yay! Let be thankful that we can actually go out and run (or walk) and go a little extra for those who can't.

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

I'm writing this post while on hold with "Genie in a Bottle" by Christina Agulleria playing in my ear. The joys of making business calls, huh?Lets catch up, shall we?Saturday we woke up early and did the yard sale thing, that went well. We had a blast spending the night and playing with Willow's cousins and Kristie and Troy :). Willow and I shared a twin size bed Friday night (she had a little trouble staying asleep in the pack n play), so we were exhausted Saturday afternoon. (PS, don't share a twin size bed with toddlers. They fall out.)I can't remember exactly if I did any work outs, so I'm going to say nothing substantial. Probably sit ups and stuff like that. Sunday I ran 4 miles in Goochland, it was a nice change up. I'd like to do that one again soon. I figured if I did 2 laps around the track (.50 mile) for a warm up, then ran all the way to the end of town (its a small town, FYI) and back, plus another 2 laps as a cool down on the track, it added up to 4 miles. My Garmin agreed.

Yesterday I ran 2.5 miles then walked some on the treadmill. I was watching Hitch, so it kept me on longer. My left knee was a little achy though. I'm wondering what that is about.

When I went Sunday, it was around 8:30-9 in the morning, but it was still hot (I think it was in the high 70's already?). When I got done my fingers felt weird, like numb-tingly but not quite numb. Then I noticed My hands were swollen (sausage fingers). It freaked me out a little so I (of course) googled it:

Swelling after runningTo summarize: " It's common for runners to have swollen fingers and toes after a long run, especially when running in warm weather." This can be caused by:-electrolyte imbalance-hyponatremia (caused by drinking too much water) -increased blood flow while running, and "excess fluid may accumulate in your hands and feet it has to travel against gravity."

Have you ever experienced swelling? With the warm weather approaching fast, its important to maintain that healthy balance between electrolytes and fluids. Pick up a Gatorade G2 or similar low-calorie sports drink to have handy, particularly on hot days. I started keeping a 8 pack in my car (even when they are not cold, they are still great to have handy!)